demi-glace

One of the oddest things about me (if I'm any judge) is that I make my own demi-glace. I don't actually do it right, in part because I don't have a kitchen that makes it possible to do the whole thing right, and in part because my procedures are a bastardization of Escoffier's directions, but the results are not only suitable, they're diabolical.

I finished a batch last night. 6 quarts of home-brewed beef stock, reduced to two trays of demi-glace ice cubes. The ice cubes are a convenient way to store and use the demi-glace, which is an idea I got reading chef whore Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential. To make various sauces, I just toss an ice cube of demi-glace into the pan, and simmer away. It's fabulous, and a basic necessity for the various compounds sauces, and simply a terrific way to turn a standard pan sauce into a meat orgy.

Any excuse for a good meat orgy.